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Grey: Max. We have a problem. Have Corvus call me as soon as you get this.
Fuck.This was going to be nuclear if AJ recognized him. Or worse, if he saw AJ in the crowd and knew I’d done nothing to stop her from coming. If he thought rationally, which I doubted he would, he’d realize that nothing I could’ve said or done would’ve prevented her from going.
If I’d said no, she would have found another way. If I’d taken the fuse for the fuel pump out of the car, they’d have just hired a cab, or fucking fixed it for all I knew. If I tried to lock them in, AJ was liable to break down a wall to get free, and kill me on her way out.
Apparently, Becca and Ava Jade had been waiting and planning for this concert for weeks. Over a month. There was nothing that was going to stop them short of fatal injury, and I wasn’t going to go that far. Icouldn’tgo that far.
If we were lucky, the tactics we used to conceal his identity from the masses would also work on Ava Jade. But when had we ever been lucky? And when had AJ ever been fooled by anything we’d done or said?
It wasn’t lost on me that if I hadn’t slipped her the antidote to the poison that she would have been too ill to have gone. I guess this was karma coming back to bite me in the fucking ass.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
On a last-ditch effort, I tried texting Rook.
Grey: Any brilliant ideas? I could use a hand.
The bastard had just walked right past me grinning when AJ announced where they were headed and said I had five minutes to get in the car or they’d leave without me.
His reply came a second later.
Rook: Enjoy the show.
Fucker.
He was enjoying this.
Becca elbowed AJ in the front, and she began to sing the chorus of the next song with her friend, her voice rising in Becca’s Audi like a rogue wave. It took me a minute to process it, how incredible she sounded. Her voice weaving almost expertly with his voice as it poured through the speakers. I wanted to tell Becca to stop singing, just so I could hear her better.
She must’ve sensed me watching her because after the chorus, she stopped singing abruptly and sank back into her seat while Becca squealed excitedly.
“Shit, girl!” Becca said, shoving AJ lightly. “You didn’t tell me you could sing.”
AJ shrugged it off, staring ahead into the dark, but the tiniest smile teased at the edge of her mouth. At odds with the sadness in her eyes that I could see through the side view mirror.
The concert venue came into view up ahead and swarms of concert-goers crowded in on both sides of the street, making their way to the main entrance from the parking lot we were turning into.
Grey: AJ is here. I’m sorry man, I couldn’t stop her.
Concert nights were theone timeCorvus set his phone aside to get his head in the game for the show. The only time he would ever ignore a call or a text. Max, his manager, usually held onto it for him until afterward, but even that bitch wasn’t answering my goddamned messages.
It was just as likely that she’d read them, saw that the content might throw him off his game and decided not to tell him. He’d have her head for it, but at least the show wouldn’t be ruined. Maxine was all about the money and when Corvus agreed to do another show, it was a guaranteed packed house. I wouldn’t doubt it if the merch we’d ordered last minute was all gone before he even went on stage.
The mysterious Primal Ethos. The bone man, as some had taken to calling him. Everybody liked a good mystery. Maxine had been right about that, at least. Corvus’ need for anonymity was part of the reason he’d grown in popularity so quickly. The ominous skull face paint added an edge of horror to the whole charade that matched his branding perfectly.
For a dead woman walking, even I had to admit Maxine was fucking fantastic at her job. It would be a shame to lose her. I might even miss her bossy tone and filterless attitude.
My phone buzzed as we stepped out of the car and I almost dropped it in my haste to tear it from my pocket.
Unknown Number: I don’t know what’s going on, but save it for post-show, alright? He’s already stressed enough about the new song, he doesn’t need whatever shit you’re about to bring to the table, ’kay. Thx.
Max.
“Grey, come on! We have to find you a ticket before the show starts!” Becca beckoned, locking her Audi and waving a hand to me.
“Just one sec,” I lobbied back, stepping further away from the car as I dialed Maxine.
Come on.
